Uncover
by I.Am.Unwritten
Summary: Everybody puts up a front to protect their hearts and feelings. What happens when those walls are slowly broken down and their true feelings shine through? Chapter 3 up!
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

Some people go through life without a care in the world. Then, there are others who are weighed down by their worries. There are those who are broken-hearted and those who fix hearts, those who put a wall up around them to protect their hearts and those who take those walls down, those who are unfeeling and distant and those who feel everything. And in one Tree Hill, there was a Lucas Scott, a Nathan Scott, a Peyton Sawyer, a Brooke Davis and finally, a Haley James.

Tree Hill was nothing special. A quaint little town with just one high school: Tree Hill High. One would think that Tree Hill was just another boring hick town in the middle of nowhere, with nothing to do, nowhere to go. Boy, were they ever wrong. Tree Hill was never uninteresting, full of surprises and drama. It was just up to the inhabitants of this "quiet" little town to fill it up, make some noise, and create a soap opera of their own. And did they ever succeed? Hell yeah.


	2. Ain't Life Tough?

**Chapter 1**

"Hey P. Sawyer! Wait up, will ya?" cried Brooke Davis, running down the hallway at quite literally, the speed of light. "These heels cost me a fortune and I am NOT going to break them at your expense! These are designer I'm warning you...Dolce & Gabbana! Will you little grade nines scatter please? I'm in a hurry here! Come on people, move it!"

Hurricane Brooke tore down the hallway of Tree Hill High, destroying everything in her path, freshmen and sophomores alike, in pursue of her best friend, Peyton Sawyer.

"Damn girl," panted Brooke when she finally caught up to her friend, whom she'd given the nickname "P. Sawyer". "Didn't you hear me calling you from all the way down the hall?" Oh, little, insensitive, self-centered Brooke did not realize that Peyton was already engaged in a _private_ conversation with someone else.

"Dude, you were in a hallway on the other side of the school!" laughed Peyton. "I was supposed to hear you, how? Oh, by the way, this is Haley James. Haley, you've probably already met my best friend, the oh so sensitive Brooke Davis."

"Oh?" Brooke smirked, noticing the short, almost invisible girl standing next to Peyton. "Have we met? No, that's right, you hang out with those tutor friends of yours, don't you, Tutorgirl? Anywho, you won't mind if I steal Peyton away for just awhile, will you? It's an emergency!" And with that, the most popular girl in Tree Hill High...heck, probably the entire universe, sauntered off, dragging her poor best friend along.

"See ya later, Haley!" cried Peyton, feeling helpless, as Hurricane Brooke was most definitely not a force to be reckoned with.

"Yeah...bye," muttered Haley. With a sigh, she walked away, pulling her hood up over her head to avoid the stares of all she passed.

**In Peyton's car...**

"Can _someone_ please remind me why I'm in a car, driving all the way to the mall? Why I'm cutting class to go _SHOPPING_? Why in _THE WORLD_-" Peyton's rant was cut off when Brooke firmly placed her hand over her best friend's mouth.

"Okay, okay, so maybe this isn't that big of an emergency, but there's like this huge sale going on at the mall and I **have** to be there because well, I want to be? It isn't like you're missing any important classes. Pfft...since when is English important? Hell, we speak it enough and now, we have to take classes on it? There are so many better things that I could be doing with my time, like shopping and saving a load of money on all the clothes that I normally would've bought at their full price and blah, blah, blah..." continued Brooke without a care in the world.

Peyton sighed and just let her best friend rant. When Brooke started talking, it was best to let her continue speaking without any interruptions. Plus, it gave Peyton some well-needed time to think. _Lucas Scott_. Just thinking that name made her spine tingle. Hell, being _around_ him made her want to hyperventilate. She shouldn't even been thinking these thoughts in the first place. She already had a boyfriend who was great to her and everything. The only problem? The name _Nathan Scott_ had never and never ever will make her spine tingle. He was basically her fuck buddy, someone just there to have sex with when she needed a distraction from all the worries of the world. Life was never fair! She and Nathan had been together for six months and everybody thought they were still going strong. And she couldn't blame them. They were never there when the imperfections of their relationship shone through. Whenever they weren't having sex or putting on an act for their friends, they argued. And after each argument came the same, sad routine. He apologized, she apologized, they kissed and made up and life went on. And life did go on...until she met _him_. Lucas Scott saw through her façade, through her and Nathan's pitiful excuse for a relationship. He saw her true colours shining through and each and every time they talked, she wished that her life were different. That she would have the strength and courage to break it off with Nathan, that she would have the strength and courage to let Lucas near her. Peyton let out a bitter laugh. As if that would ever happen. She was too scared, too scared of herself, of the world, of the future, of what would happen if she let Lucas come any closer to her than he already had.

"Time to get rid of these thoughts," Peyton muttered to herself. "My life is perfect. I have an awesome boyfriend, a great dad, Brooke as a best friend, my art, my music... I don't need anymore."

Then why wasn't she happy? Was that too much to ask for? To for once be happy and satisfied with whatever she had?

"Life is a bitch," sighed Peyton.

"Damn straight," agreed Brooke, interrupting Peyton's thoughts. "Life is a damn bitch."

Brooke sat in the car beside Peyton, silent for once and thinking of the past, of the present, of the future. Her parents were never home long enough so she was always lonely. If not for Peyton and her company, Brooke would be partying 24/7, never bothering to even come to school. She was grateful to her best friend for that. Her best friend who looked after her and cared for her, almost like a mom cared for her daughter. Hell, her mom was never home long enough to realize that Brooke was deeply unhappy and lonely, and that she had almost committed suicide on several occasions. Sure Brooke was rich. But being rich came with its own problems and repercussions.

And boys...she didn't even want to think about the opposite sex. When would she find a soul mate? Likely never. She jumped from guy to guy, fucking them once, discarding them and running into the arms of another guy. It was a wonder she hadn't contracted an STI by now. Hell, it was a miracle! Would she ever settle down with one guy? Would she ever find herself? Would she ever stop being lonely? Life was so full of questions.

"You know what Peyton?" asked Brooke.

"What?" muttered Peyton, concentrating on the road (sort-of).

"I think I've figured out the meaning to life!"

"And what would that be, B. Davis?"

"Life is soooo full of questions and the purpose of one's life, is to discover the answers to those questions and to gather experiences along the way! Oh, who's smart?"

"Whoa Brooke... that was one deep answer!"

"I know? What do you say we ditch shopping, grab some ice cream and a couple of chick flicks and head on over to my house for some major girl-bonding? I never knew anything that ice-cream couldn't solve!"

"Gotcha!"


	3. Author's Note: Disclaimer

Hey guys! Anywho, I knew I was forgetting something, and it turns out that I've forgotten to add a disclaimer for the first two chapters! So, this is my disclaimer, stating that I do not own any part of One Tree Hill, though sadly, I wish I did. Owning a James Lafferty or a CMM wouldn't suck either!

Love, Cori


	4. Anything for a Friend, Anything

**Chapter 2: Anything for a Friend, Anything**

Disclaimer: Though I wish I owned everything related to One Tree Hill, I sadly do not. If I did, I probably would not be sitting here, penning a story about it then.

Haley James quickly walked back down one of the hallways of Tree Hill High after her brief encounter with Brooke Davis, who was not only the most popular girl in school, but the wildest, most daring and nastiest girl she had EVER met in her life. Just because she hung out with other tutors and was a complete nerd did not mean that she wasn't fun to hang around with. That was the problem with most people. They based everything on looks and status, not the personality of the person.

On the outside, Haley James might've been quiet and reserved, but when she was with the people that she loved such as close friends and family, a different Haley shone through. The quiet and reserved Haley disappeared and in her place appeared a fun, energetic and enthusiastic girl who never backed down from a challenge! But those characteristics were never good enough. One had to be pretty as well. And sadly, Haley believed that she was lacking in that particular department.

'_Oh well_,' thought Haley. What was it to have good looks if one did not have many close friends? Haley had one close friend in particular and his name was Lucas Scott. He was the one person who stopped her from becoming completely invisible and from blending entirely into the background. Lucas paid attention to her; he _liked_ her for who she was. Never once did he ask her to change any part of personality or her looks. And for that, she was grateful.

"Oooof!" exclaimed Haley, as she was pushed roughly to the ground. She looked up and saw that she had, while lost in thought, accidentally walked into Nathan Scott, the renowned bad boy of the school.

'_Stupid! I'm so stupid!'_ Haley thought, silently berating herself. Of all the people she could've bumped into, she _had_ to walk straight into Nathan Scott. At least Nathan didn't seem to care and wasn't making too big of a deal out of it. He just helped her up, smirked and walked away.

'_Wow, he has the nicest blue eyes…Stop it Haley, stop it! You know he's Lucas's half-brother. It's either him or Lucas, and obviously, Lucas should be the one you side with.'_

Haley shook her head and just continued walking down the hallway, towards the gym where she was supposed to meet Luke.

As she sat in the bleachers waiting for Luke to finish playing basketball, her thoughts returned to Nathan. She was quite sure that he wasn't as bad as he made out to be. He was just a lost soul. With a dad like Dan Scott, that's all he could be. Dan Scott was also Lucas's father and had conceived a child with Karen (Lucas's mom) unintentionally, while they were in their last year of high school. Of course, he was naive back then, and promised Karen that he would always care for her. Fat chance! He went off to University and proceeded to conceive a second child with Deb (Nathan's mom), all in the span of three months. As Deb was rich and had a social status that was far above Karen's, Dan abandoned Lucas's mom and went off to live with Deb.

However, as far as Haley was concerned, Lucas was the one who had turned out just fine. He hadn't ever been subjected to Dan's intense pressure, the kind of pressure that Nathan was currently under. Dan wanted Nathan to be the best basketball player Tree Hill had ever seen, and was constantly pushing his son, yelling at him to be a better player than his bastard child, Lucas Scott. And that had made Nathan a cocky, nasty bastard, who didn't care about any of the girls he fucked and who was in danger of becoming a clone of Dan.

"Hey Haley!" cried Lucas, interrupting her thoughts. "How are ya, friend?"

"Oh, just great! I talked to Peyton Sawyer, got dissed by Brooke Davis AND bumped into Nathan Scott. Could this day get any worse?" cried Haley, burying her head into her hands. "How 'bout you?"

"Got into another fight with Nathan, the cocky bastard. He thinks he owns the whole frickin' town, cause his dad's Dan Scott, mayor of Tree Hill."

"You know, I don't think Nathan's all that bad. It's just cause his dad's putting him under so much pressure to be a good basketball player. That's why he's so self-centered."

"Whatever," muttered Lucas under his breath. "He's so full of shit. Anyway, walk you home?"

"As always, best friend!"

The two jumped down from the bleachers and began the walk to Haley's house, hand in hand.

"Lucas?" asked Haley.

"Mmmm-hmmmm?"

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure thing."

"I know this may sound really superficial, but do you think I'm pretty? Like, really pretty?"

"No."

"Oh," muttered Haley, as tears began to fall from her eyes. _Why was she caring so much anyway? She was better than this, she knew. _

"Haley," said Lucas seriously, pulling her in front of him and putting his hands on her shoulders. "You aren't just pretty, you're beautiful!

And she was, though she hadn't realized it. She was no Brooke Davis, but she had the warmest chocolate brown eyes and lovely shoulder-length brown hair. Her smile was always bright and wide and she constantly walked with a skip in her step. Yup, Haley James was one pretty girl.

Haley, after hearing Lucas's comment, stared at him in shock. Quickly, she closed her mouth and jumped into his arms, hugging him with all her might. "Thanks," she muttered into his ear. "I really needed to hear that."

"Anything for you, buddy. Anything."


	5. Wish I Could Recklessly Love

**Chapter 3: Wish I Could Recklessly Love**

**Disclaimer:** I don't own One Tree Hill, which frankly, depresses me!

After Lucas dropped Haley off at her house, he quickly ran back to his own. "Damn," he mumbled. "I've got five minutes. Come on, where's my damn key?" He fumbled around in his pocket before triumphantly pulling out his house key.

The "YES" he cried could be heard all around town.

Lucas quickly ran into the house and up the stairs to his room. Dropping his bag onto the dirty floor, he swiped all the papers of his even dirtier desk and rebooted his computer. He grabbed his chair, plopped down onto it and logged on to watch Peyton's podcast. All this was done in less than three minutes, and obviously, Lucas had perfected this routine. After all, this **_was_** his favourite time of day and he could not afford to miss it.

He knew that there was some sort of connection between himself and Peyton. There was no valid explanation for it…it was just there. He'd stare deep into here eyes and he'd see so many emotions swirling around in those dark eyes of her. Sometimes he saw resentment, other times he saw misery and sorrow, and sometimes, but only once in a blue moon, he saw sparks of happiness that appeared and then disappeared in a blink of an eye.

Luke had no clue if this was just an attraction to her or if it was an actual honest to gosh crush. If it was an attraction, why did he feel like he had been stabbed in the gut every time he saw Peyton and Nathan walking hand in hand or making out? If it was a crush, well, Nathan had gotten to Peyton first, and that meant that he had to get over her quickly.

"I really need a girlfriend…" mumbled Lucas to himself. "Might as well face the music. Peyton and I will never be together-" His thoughts were suddenly interrupted when he heard a familiar voice, one so recognizable that he would know it _anywhere_, begin to speak.

**In Peyton's Room:**

Brooke had long gone and Peyton began setting up for her next podcast. This podcast entry would be especially intimate, one that was close to her heart. She would finally voice all her confusion involving the two men in her life. Peyton didn't know why, but she just found it a lot easier to confide in complete strangers than in people she was close to and loved. Maybe it was because strangers didn't know her personally and thus, did not judge her for all the mistakes she had made.

She took a deep breath…and began to speak.

"Hey guys, it's me Peyton, back here with another podcast entry. You know what I really wonder? Why you guys are actually listening to me complain about my sad sorry life and my sad sorry boyfriend. It's funny how I can relate to complete strangers better than those who are close to my heart. Yeah, real funny." At this point, Peyton chuckled, but quickly resumed talking.

"Anyway, I was listening to a Natasha Bedingfield song called 'Wild Horses'. Yeah, I know, this isn't something I would normally listen to, but whatever. The lyrics just appealed to me for some reason. Anyways, this is how the chorus goes:

_Wild horses I want to be like you_

_  
Throwing caution to the wind_

_  
I'll run free too_

_  
Wish I could recklessly love, like I'm longing to_

_  
Run with the wild horses, run with the wild horses!  
_

"And I'm sitting here going 'Wow!' I totally wish I could run like the wild horses and be recklessly in love. Yeah, you see, I have a problem. I have a boyfriend, but I love someone else. Honestly, why does stuff like this always happen to me? Why am I _always_ cursed this way? Anyhow, you know when there's like, this point in your life where you've become so accustomed to a person who you think you love, but actually don't. Yeah, well in my life, it's come to a point where I have to keep reminding myself that I'm supposed to love this one person. And I've just grown so sick and tired of this stupid relationship. Honestly, we both know that it isn't working and that it's **never** going to work out, but yet, it's like we can't bring ourselves to end the relationship yet. I suppose one could say that in a way, our friends are the ones keeping us together. If not for them, we would've broken up long ago, but it's like they have this set of expectations that you're expected to meet. And our friends' expectations for me and Nathan? Huh! They think that we're going to stay together forever and ever and one day, marry and have kids and hell no! I am never, in a million frickin' years, going to stay together with that conceited, stuck-up jerk! Okay, so maybe this is a bit one-sided. Nathan's really not a jerk. He's got a heart of gold, he really does. It's just kind of buried under layers and layers of shit...

"Anyhow, back to the matter at hand. I don't love Nathan anymore, and he sure as HELL does not love me anymore, though he pretends to. I can tell. We haven't had sex in two months, we kiss like five-year-olds and we talk like once a month. That's how crappy our relationship is…it is so fucked up. And cause I'm too scared to end it, I have to put on this happy outlook every time I'm with my friends, to make it seem like I still really love Nathan. Bullshit.

"And then, there's Lucas. We have this bond you know? I can stare deep into his eyes and it seems like I've known him forever, inside out. He broods a lot you know, which is why my best friend Brooke calls him 'Broody'. Course, she never actually says it to his face. He'd probably just brood over why Brooke calls him that. The answer, dude? Brook is weird that way. Don't question her. Ever. You'll get an earful if you do.

"I'm surprised that Brooke hasn't actually hooked up with him yet. Sure, he's not in Nathan's class, but he's pretty close. Still, Brooke is totally not ready for commitment. And Broody? He's the type of person who'd stay together with someone he met in grade four for the rest of his life. A very committed guy. Just look at him and Haley James. I don't really know much about their relationship, except that they're really, really close. They met in like grade three or something like that, and have been practically joined at the hip since. Haley Scott…that has a nice ring to it.

"What am I kidding myself? I'm in love with Lucas Scott. But he's no Nathan Scott. And Nathan Scott is the one I should be with. I totally wish I could recklessly love. I totally wish that I was like Brooke Davis. She's uncommitted and doesn't give a shit about the guys she fucks. But I'm not. I'm Peyton damn Sawyer. And I'm running scared."

Peyton finished speaking and proceeded to take out a worn, beaten-up sketchbook. She opened it to a fresh page and began to draw.

**Back At Lucas's House:**

Lucas stared at the computer screen. Peyton had set up her webcam, and he could see her every feature. The tongue sticking out of the side of her mouth as she concentrated on her drawing. The eyes focused on the page, her brows wrinkled.

Then, she looked up, though only for a split second. But Lucas had seen the emotions in her eyes. Peyton was frustrated, angry, depressed. He gave up and thundered down the stairs and out the door, pausing only for a second to grab a thin jacket. He was on a mission. A mission to make Peyton Sawyer happy again. And he **_would_** succeed or die trying. Why? Because he loved her and now, he knew she loved him back.

_Thanks to all my reviewers: Cadi Cay, XSmile, mary-023, and TommyQismine. Thanks so much for reviewing! I still have no clue what relationships I'm going to put in here, but Naley for sure and perhaps a bit of Leyton/ Brucas/ Jeyton. Keep reviewing please!_

_Luv, Cori _


End file.
